CHICAGO, S.C. (WCBD) – Summerville native, Melody Geddis McFadden, took the stage on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to shine a light on the lasting impacts of gun violence.
McFadden wears a lot of hats. She’s a pastor, a veteran, an activist and a voice for those who lost their lives to guns.
“My niece Sandy Patrice was 22. She drove to Myrtle Beach for sun and fun and motorcycle parades,” McFadden began, during her speech at the convention.
McFadden said her niece was shot and killed in 2014 after fights broke out on the beach and shots were fired into the crowd.
When describing her ability to stay calm upon hearing about the beach shooting, McFadden revealed to the DNC crowd this was not her first time losing a loved one to gun violence.
“My mother, Patricia Ann, had been shot and killed by an abusive partner. I was calm then too. I got to handling business,” McFadden said. She was 17 at the time of her mother’s death.
The stage was shared with other victims of gun violence including a survivor of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting and a mother whose daughter was killed in the 2022 Uvalde, Texas school shooting.